WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday that it’s imposing $1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.
The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department’s history.
“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law.”
I briefly worked on AML systems at a larger bank than BOFA.
Yeah, money laundering is a constant whackamole and occurs constantly. We caught like 40% ish in real time, another 20-30% with look backs, the rest were probably never noticed.
Why BOFA now? Probably political or a regulator got their butt hurt.
I work for a large national bank too. Probably slightly smaller than BOA but I deal with OFAC and Sanctions regularly (in relation to real estate ownership).
BOA knows better so either they thought they could get away with something or it’s some kind of targeted attack by Trump Admins.
I do know of examples where a banking exec did something shady bc they thought they could get away with it.
I actually had someone recently submit AI altered photos as evidence of required property repairs. I guarantee that wasn’t the first time we received AI images or paperwork but probably the first time we noticed.